I Care
by hidingunderblankets
Summary: It was supposed to be just a sleepover with Tangath. But it ended up being so much more than that. And to think it all started with a few too many spirits. [Rewritten, multi-chapter version] [Ch. 1: So far, Tom's stay with Tangath Toborn hasn't been as fun as he'd hope it'd be. But things are just heating up - something he'll realize by nightfall.]


''Things haven't been going as I hoped they'd be,'' said Tom Majors. He sat at a table with his head held up by his propped elbow as he sipped a juice made of something he didn't know – all he could guess about it was that it was made from an odd red fruit he found in the cabinet earlier.

As he drank, he watched the small candle in the lantern on the table flicker away as it melted the wax below it. There wasn't anything to do other than that and it was beginning to bore Tom. He looked out the opened window to see the sun setting as it began to fall behind the buildings of Kiru City.

Tom felt disappointed – he thought spending an entire week with Tangath Toborn in the Overworld would be a blast, but so far it'd been boring. He knew that Toborn was a busy creature, but he didn't think that he was so busy that he couldn't at least check in to see how his guest was doing, especially since he forbid him from leaving the house. Looking back, he regretted lying to his parents that he was spending the week at a friend's house.

Tom couldn't keep his eyes open anymore – they'd grown too heavy. Knowing he'd pass out if he tried to stay up any longer, he gulped down the rest of his drink and got up. He dragged himself up the stairs, down the second floor hallway and into the sunlit spare bedroom Toborn had offered him. He took off his shoes and climbed into bed.

Tom sighed as he got comfortable. He slid himself beneath the covers and sank his head into the pillow as he looked up at the ceiling. The voice of himself spoke on his head as his eyes shut and he began to drift away from reality.

___All I can do for now is just hope that things get better._

* * *

Tom suddenly woke up to hear footsteps and doors slamming outside his room. Having just woken up, the gears in his head weren't exactly cranking yet. He mumbled as he shoved the sounds aside and tried to go back to sleep.

Things went quiet again until he heard the sound of his door opening. He shot up and looked over at the door. Standing in the doorway was a giggling and humming Tangath Toborn with his sword in a hand and his other on the doorknob. Tom just stared at the laughing lion, watching him laugh to himself.

Toborn dropped his sword and stumbled his way inside, not bothering to close the door. Tom watched as the creature made his way over to the bed and climbed in with him. Tom got a wake-up call from what Toborn was doing and (weakly) tried to scoot away – however, Toborn's arm wrapped itself around his shoulders and pulled him over to him. Tom tried to squirm his way out, but it was no use – Toborn giggled some more as he looked at the boy he held.

''Hello there, Thomas. Nice evening, isn't it?'' he asked in a low volume with a grin of his face. As he talked, Tom's nose caught the smell of the officer's breathe. It smelt awful – it reminded him of alcohol. Tom didn't know it, nor could he suspect it, but the Overworlder had gotten very drunk before returning home and was very out of it. The influenced Toborn giggled once more as he ran his hand through Tom's messy hair. Tom just mumbled nonsense, still dazed and confused.

''What's wrong? You look scared. How come? Since when are you scared of me?'' said Toborn as he sighed, ''Oh, well. So, how were things when I was gone? I would have been back earlier, but," he tried to remember what he'd done before he returned. "Uh... can't remember...''

''Fine?'' Tom answered

''Oh, that makes me happy,'' said Toborn, ''I'm going to enjoy having you around for these next six days and nights. If only I could have spent this one with you, but no, Maxxor has to make me do all this work that anyone else can do. I'm sorry that I had to leave you... but don't worry, I'll make it up for you, I promise.''

Toborn stopped stroking Tom's hair. Tom thought it was over – however, things just got worse for him as he felt another arm sling over to his shoulder and heard him chuckling deeply as he rested his head right next to the boy's ear. Tom had nothing to say as he was at a loss for words. His fingers fidgeted a bit under the covers.

"I've never told you about my thoughts on you, have I?" Toborn asked Tom, "I don't think I have. Well, here it goes... Thomas, I've always cared for you since we became familiar with each other. Never really showed it or told it to you because whenever we crossed paths, there were others people around and to say that kind of stuff would cause problems for both of us."

"What? Cared for me?" mumbled a dazed Tom.

"I've always had your back during all the times where we came across each other. Remember that one day when your friends nearly got killed by those guards but I told them to go away? That's what I mean by caring. Had I not, you might not be here. As for the part where I told you that you couldn't leave, well, that was to keep you out of trouble. Have I ever told you how much danger you get yourself into? I've never seen a Chaotic Player with misfortune like yours. Not that it's a bad thing or anything, don't worry," he replied.

Tom wasn't exactly getting what Toborn was telling him. Being half-asleep, he wasn't paying too much attention to him as he was in a sleepy state of confusion from being woken up in the middle of the night. Toborn and his rantings weren't helping him understand what was going on. He looked out the open window for a moment before he heard the OverWorlder sigh again.

Suddenly, he felt Toborn's body press against his. Not seeing it coming, Tom froze. His fingers began to twitch again as he felt the breath of Toborn venting on his neck. Toborn let out another chuckle before speaking into Tom's ear.

"Remember what I'm about to tell you. I'm your friend, though, I'll be honest, I see you as more. Never forget that. If you ever need me, I'll be there, Thomas. You having nothing to fear here in Perim. If you find yourself faced with death, I'll be there to save you from it. You can count on that,'' Toborn assured as he tightened his grip on Tom, "I'd talk more with you, but I have important things to do tomorrow and sleep is very vital in my line of work."

As if things couldn't be anymore confusing for the lost Tom, it did. He felt a cold, moist nose touch the side of his face as Toborn gave him a quick kiss before chuckling once more. The kiss sent a message through Tom's head that wasn't enough to make him awake, but made his eyes a bit widened out of surprise.

"Nighty night, Tommy," Toborn told Tom before laying his head on the pillow and fell asleep literally second later; Tom heard his heavy snores as closed his own eyes and went back into dreamland.

"You too," he mumbled faintly. And with that, both went to sleep.

* * *

"Get back!" Tom ordered as he shot out of bed from a nightmare involving a creature pinning him in the corner of his home. He breathed heavily as he looked around the room and found himself back in Perim, away from the dream that he had gone through too many times to count at this point. "It was just a dream... good thing or else I would have been history."

He exhaled as got out of bed and walked for the window to look outside. He rubbed his eyes and felt something thick and wet on his face. He used his finger to swab off a bit of the stuff and examined it. Saliva.

''Slobber?'' he asked himself. As he tried to figure out why the drool was on his face, he heard sounds of someone thumping around on the first floor and looked out the open bedroom door.

''Hello?'' he shouted.

Being the curious kid he was, Tom went downstairs to see what was causing all the noise. When he got to the bottom floor, he looked around to see that the front door had been left open. ___That's strange. _He approached the door and looked outside. He peeked out it to see no one there. He backed away from the door as he shrugged his shoulders, thinking it was just a late-for-work Tangath Toborn that forgot to shut the door.

"Must have slept in," he told himself as he closed the door and began to search for a rag or a cloth of some kind to wipe the saliva on his face. When he thought of that, an idea hit him like a rock from space. He asked himself the idea as he swiped his finger across his face and looked down at the saliva and used his dry hand to pinch his shoulder as a number of thoughts raced through his head, none of which were recollection of what happened late last night.

"This couldn't be his... I have to be dreaming," he said as he began to fear for the worst.

* * *

Toborn slowed down in the middle of an alley as he looked behind him to make sure that no one was following him. After leaning that he wasn't, he leaned against a building wall as he placed his sword on top of a barrel and took a breather.

If there was one time that he hated his near-photographic memory, it was now. The second he woke up this morning, he felt something trapped in his arms and looked to see that it was Tom. The second he eyed him, the memories of last night plagued him. As he recalled what he said and did to the boy. For once, he felt the need to run away. He worried about what might become of his late night out. What people might assume from his drunken actions. Kiru City frowned upon certain acts – Toborn feared that he might be punished for of those. For the first time, the creature felt a lack of confidence.

"What have I done?'" he asked himself as he placed his hand over his head and slid down the wall, "I can't let anyone know about this accident or else I may lose everything." He looked off. "I doubt that Thomas will look at me the same way after this."

As much as he wanted to make sure that what happened last didn't get out, he had to put it aside. For now, it was time to serve Kiru City. He grabbed his sword and glared at it as he sighed and began to lumber out of the alley and into the market district, worrying about what will happen next.

___Only time will tell what will happen next._


End file.
